Fix ‘LCP Error in Core Web Vitals on GSC’ – Guide

Google Search Console is a free application that allows you to recognize, troubleshoot and resolve any issues that Google may face as you swipe and struggle to register your site in indexed listings. It can also provide a window into which pages are ranking well and which pages Google has chosen to ignore. In the video below, we provide a quick summary of significant device level and reports that Google Search Console provides.

What is LCP?

LCP stands for higher content painting. The LCP measures the time taken by the server to display the largest visible element in the viewport. LCP must be less than 2.5 seconds. If you are seeing the LCP issue: More than 4s (Desktop) or (Mobile) in your Search Console, this means that the server is taking longer than 4 seconds to render the largest element visible in the viewport. LCP greater than 4 seconds is rated bad by Google and degrades the Core Web Vital experience. Here is an example of how the LCP is loaded on the CNN website. Here’s another example of how the LCP is uploaded on the TechCrunch website: As we can see from the images above, the LCP is either an image or a video. Therefore, the time taken by images or videos to load on your site is more likely to cause the error – LCP problem: more than 4s (Desktop) or (Mobile).

What are the top Web Vitals?

Core Web Vitals are a collection of metrics that identify and measure the elements that impact the user experience in the real world. Google is currently measuring only 3 metrics i.e. LCP, FID and CLS in Core Web Vitals, but in the future it will include more metrics. In this article, we will only discuss the LCP because the error LCP issue: Longer than 4s (Desktop) or (Mobile) is related to the LCP.

What is the Web Top Vitals Report?

The Core Web Vitals Report is a UX improvement report shown in Google Search Console under the Improvement tab that measures the performance of 3 metrics – LCP, FID and CLS. To view the Core Web Vitals report, visit Search Console, click on Core Web Vitals under the Enhancements tab. Here is a screenshot of what the Core Web Vitals report looks like for the LCP issue: More than 4s (Desktop) or (Mobile) error:

Steps to fix LCP issue: more than 4 seconds (desktop)

Follow the steps below to fix the LCP issue: More than 4s (Desktop) or (Mobile):

Identify the URLs that are causing the problem

The first step is to identify some example URLs that are causing the LCP issue: more than 4s (desktop) or (Mobile) error. Visit Search Console and click on the Core Web Vitals link on the Enhancements tab. Now click on Open report. You will see the total number of URLs affected by the LCP issue. After that, click where it says: LCP Issue: Longer Than 4s (Desktop) or (Mobile). You will see an example of the URL that is causing the error along with the total number of URLs that are having the problem.

Measure the LCP of page elements

Once you’ve identified a sample URL, visit Google Page Speed ​​Insights and enter your page URL. Note: Enter the exact example URL in the tool, not yours home page URL. After the test is complete, you will see the LCP of your page. The LCP score is different for mobile and desktop. You just need to take care of mobile score because fixing the mobile The LCP will automatically correct the desktop or mobile PCL In my case, the average LCP is around 19.4 seconds, higher than the recommended 2.5 seconds. You may also see a source summary that says “all pages served from this source do not pass the Web Vitals Assessment”. You need to pass the Web Vitals Assessment test to fix the LCP issue of individual pages on your site.

Identify the element with the longest load time

Now, swipe down to the Opportunities section. Here, you’ll see suggestions to help your page load faster. For example, one of the suggestions in my case is “serve images in state-of-the-art formats”. In your case, the suggestion may be different. So, you need to check all the suggestions returned by the Page Speed ​​Insights tool one by one. When I clicked on the first suggestion, Google recommended that I use a plugin to optimize my website images from JPEG or PNG to JPEG 2000, JPEG XR and WebP. I was also able to see the entire list of images the page was using along with the size of the resource and the amount of potential savings I can gain in terms of page speed if I change the format of the images. What I did was convert all the images on my website to WebP format. The WebP format is an image format developed by Google. How do I convert all images on my WordPress site to WebP format? Using a plugin called WebP to Media Converter. Just install this plugin and this software will convert all the images on your WordPress site to WebP. Note that this technique only works for WordPress sites. After installing the plugin, you need to activate it by going to the Plugin section of the WordPress dashboard and clicking activate. Once the plugin is activated, click on Regenerate Images and the plugin will convert all your images to WebP format. I used this plugin on my website and the above issues that Google was showing have now been fixed. Likewise, the second suggestion that Google gave was to install a lazy loading plugin or AMP plugin to further decrease the page load time. Be sure to backup your website as these plugins can change your website design. Visit the website: WebPageTest.org and enter your URL for a speed test. Now click on the Waterfall diagram next to any of the RUNs. You’ll see all the requests the browser makes to display all the different elements of the URL. Gather all the suggestions and implement them on your site to improve page speed.

validate correction

Once you’ve made all the changes to your site based on the suggestions given by the Google Page Speed ​​Insights tool, go back to the Page Speed ​​Insights tool and check your page again. See if your page passes the Core Web Vitals Assessment test. Continue implementing the suggestions until your page passes the test. In most cases, upgrading to a better server and using a CDN can dramatically improve page load times. Once your page has cleared the test, visit Search Console and click on “Validate Fix”. This will let Google know that you have made all the changes to improve the page load speed and that the LCP issue is now fixed. Please be patient as it may take a few weeks for Google to verify and validate the LCP issue.

Final note

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